Gas

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the impact on UK businesses of the increase in wholesale gas prices and the increase in energy costs, with specific reference to the terms of (a) productivity and (b) competitiveness.

Malcolm Wicks: The impact on UK businesses of increases in gas and energy prices will depend on a variety of factors, including how much gas or energy a particular company uses, the degree of their exposure to spot and forward prices and the duration of high prices. It will also be affected by the energy prices paid by their competitors. A further sector-specific issue is whether they are in a competitive market where international trade sets the price or in a sector where prices are determined more locally and rising energy costs could be passed on.
	Despite recent rises, UK gas and electricity prices for industrial users in 2004 were lower in real terms than they were in 1994. In January 2005, UK gas and electricity prices for small, medium and large energy users were still below the EU median; for extra large electricity users their electricity prices were at the level of the EU median. However, individual companies will have agreed commercially confidential contract terms and prices which might differ from these averages.
	Data on the average industrial gas and electricity prices in the UK over time can be found in tables 3.3.1 Real Terms and 3.3.2 Real Terms at:
	www.dti.gov.uk/energy/inform/energy prices/tables/table 331.xls
	Average gas price comparisons for different size categories of energy users across the EU can be found in tables 5.8.1, 5.8.2 and 5.8.3 at:
	www.dti.gov.uk/energy/inform/energy prices/tables/table 581.xls and for electricity prices in tables 5.4.1, 5.4.2, 5.4.3 and 5.4.4 at:
	www.dti.gov.uk/energy/inform/energy prices/tables/table 541.xls
	There is anecdotal evidence that, for very large users of gas, gas prices in the UK are above those on the Continent. The Department is in discussion with the Energy Intensive Users Group and other industrial stakeholders to develop ideas for improving the operation of the forward market and to identify ways users can mitigate the effects of high forward gas prices. On 16 May the DTI held a seminar with major users to discuss forward gas prices and we are planning a further similar seminar with smaller users. We have undertaken research into the operation of the forward gas market. The report by independent consultants Global Insight can be found at http://www.dti.gov.uk/energy/publications/policy/index.shtml

Marriage Applications

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many marriage applications there have been in the UK in each year since 1997;
	(2)  how many marriage applications there were in each register office in the UK in each month since May 1997.

John Healey: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Registrar General, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. David Davis, dated 24 May 2005
	As Registrar General for England and Wales I have been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary Questions on marriage applications. (299 and 300)
	I am placing in the House of Commons Library a table showing the available information. It gives the numbers of intended marriages taken in each local authority in England and Wales for 1998–1999 to 2003–2004. Comparable data for Scotland and Northern Ireland are not held centrally, and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
	From 1 January 2001, both the bride and groom had to give notice. Prior to then, couples who lived in the same registration district gave one notice. Figures exclude marriages in an Anglican Church where notice of marriage is given after banns.
	
		Number of intended marriages taken in each local authority in England and Wales 1998–99 to 2003–04
		
			 Local authority 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 
		
		
			 Barking and Dagenham 720 737 872 1568 2,004 2,171 
			 Barnet 1,578 1,560 1,820 3,580 3,809 4,055 
			 Barnsley 858 852 1,097 1,678 1,721 1,752 
			 Bath and North East Somerset 654 657 812 1,266 1,347 1,380 
			 Bedfordshire 1,571 1,481 1,983 3,170 3,394 3,535 
			 Bexley 920 933 1,156 1,814 1,938 2,007 
			 Birmingham 3,721 3,615 4,291 7,201 8,098 7,861 
			 Blackburn-with-Darwen 650 601 664 1,102 1,130 1,259 
			 Blackpool 689 655 766 1,226 1,249 1,436 
			 Blaenau 260 262 263 384 431 513 
			 Bolton 1,094 1,109 1,266 2,108 2,287 2,390 
			 Bournemouth 799 796 951 1,589 1,720 1,746 
			 Bracknell Forest 505 431 597 911 1,024 1,078 
			 Bradford 1,712 1,662 2,045 3,397 3,494 3,575 
			 Brent 1,328 1,286 2,014 4,104 4,474 4,460 
			 Bridgend 499 505 605 960 1,093 1,141 
			 Brighton and Hove 1,134 1,054 1,630 2,687 2,611 2,865 
			 Bristol 1,755 1,767 2,152 3,497 3,878 3,967 
			 Bromley 1,255 1,320 1,422 2,383 2,621 2,607 
			 Buckinghamshire 1,750 1,660 1,980 3,319 3,473 3,788 
			 Bury 778 821 865 1,413 1,485 1,673 
			 Caerphilly 675 702 803 1,281 1,391 1,451 
			 Calderdale 765 758 858 1,399 1,497 1,605 
			 Cambridgeshire 2,059 2,067 2,583 4,309 4,603 4,731 
			 Camden 1,036 1,049 1,297 2,587 2,850 3,075 
			 Cardiff 1,279 1,317 1,486 2,216 2,496 2,662 
			 Carmarthenshire 607 616 630 1,064 1,190 1,138 
			 Ceredigion 218 177 220 361 444 446 
			 Cheshire 2,773 2,725 3,071 5,205 5,406 5,466 
			 City of Westminster 883 975 1450 3,111 3,047 3,259 
			 Conwy 416 388 470 111 755 8,22 
			 Cornwall 1,837 1,907 2,376 3,802 4,071 4,307 
			 Coventry 1,211 1,264 1,629 2,524 2,386 2,647 
			 Croydon 1,469 1,408 1,766 3,194 3,328 3,522 
			 Cumbria 1,602 1,626 1,966 3,245 3,341 3,570 
			 Darlington 451 441 510 796 812 868 
			 Denbighshire 287 307 332 560 605 626 
			 Derby 1,097 1,063 1,203 2,008 1,896 2,037 
			 Derbyshire 2,35 2,848 3,262 5,296 5,697 5,986 
			 Devon 2,558 2,551 3,087 4,971 5,437 5,818 
			 Doncaster 1,183 1,225 1,487 2,236 2,263 2,644 
			 Dorset 1,345 1,360 1,631 2,625 2,749 3,101 
			 Dudley 1,142 1,167 1,323 2,028 2,327 2,225 
			 Durham 1,901 1,893 2,090 3,576 3,576 3,931 
			 Ealing 1,601 1,540 2,098 3,878 3,923 4,155 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 1,007 1,012 1,290 2,030 2,160 2,422 
			 East Sussex 1,925 1,987 2,411 4,061 4,24 4,257 
			 Enfield 254 1,322 1,565 3,033 3,116 3,333 
			 Essex 4,844 4,19 5,938 10,044 10,888 11,218 
			 Flintshire 624 517 732 1,161 1,193 1,241 
			 Gateshead 797 834 943 1,476 1,473 1,578 
			 Gloucestershire 2,072 2,132 2,524 4,204 4,433 4,686 
			 Greenwich 1,074 987 1,215 2,218 2,419 2,855 
			 Gwynedd 388 360 427 673 716 748 
			 Hackney 1,188 1,119 1,442 2,923 3,479 3,437 
			 Halton 561 492 579 979 928 1,011 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 881 851 1,147 2,207 2,417 2,472 
			 Hampshire 4,937 4,937 5,923 10,094 10,433 10,560 
			 Haringey 1,422 1,408 2001 3,857 4,544 4,932 
			 Harrow 871 907 1,040 1,873 2,072 2,005 
			 Hartlepool 381 354 416 688 696 675 
			 Havering 858 844 936 1,578 1,666 1,792 
			 Herefordshire 600 552 678 1,084 1,130 1,221 
			 Hertfordshire 4406 4,386 5,169 8,717 9,241 9,577 
			 Hillingdon 1,043 1,075 1,272 2,190 2,079 2,233 
			 Hounslow 1,062 1,102 1,528 2,550 2,803 2,878 
			 Isle of Anglesey 200 226 254 367 461 385 
			 Isle of Wight 501 498 591 924 1,086 1,051 
			 Isles of Scilly 6 7 6 18 20 13 
			 Islington 916 947 1,217 2,308 2,559 2,541 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 731 674 970 1,887 1,931 1,933 
			 Kent 4,934 4,874 6,017 9,98 10,516 11,206 
			 Kingston Upon Hull 1,109 1,106 1,231 2,105 2,281 ,377 
			 Kingston Upon Thames 710 680 859 1,327 1,380 1,546 
			 Kirklees 1,556 1,576 1,937 3,097 3,195 3,343 
			 Knowsley 531 546 605 881 886 1,009 
			 Lambeth 1,611 1,606 2,232 4,299 4,883 1,836 
			 Lancashire 4,404 4,583 5,185 8,329 8,922 9,527 
			 Leeds 2,781 2,802 3,361 5,436 5,741 6,191 
			 Leicester 1,245 1,169 1,604 2,791 2,808 2,864 
			 Leicestershire 2,194 2,171 2,543 4,150 4,596 4,591 
			 Lewisham 1,232 1,258 1,623 3,465 3,523 3,957 
			 Lincolnshire 2,074 2,124 2,633 4,301 5,017 5,116 
			 Liverpool 1,517 1,472 1,651 2,651 2,889 2,899 
			 London Corporation 45 35 33 64 71 70 
			 Luton 732 726 874 1,650 1,664 1,983 
			 Manchester 1,679 1,608 2,15 3,73 3,616 4,001 
			 Medway 1,197 1,108 1,512 2,032 2,508 2,508 
			 Merthyr Tydfil 210 198 275 464 442 387 
			 Merton 918 881 1,209 1,991 2,059 2,387 
			 Middlesbrough 571 544 622 1,14 966 1,037 
			 Milton Keynes 981 1,008 1,179 2,194 2,275 2,509 
			 Monmouthshire 289 271 302 560 581 646 
			 Neath Port Talbot 487 473 530 816 1,079 1,072 
			 Newcastle Upon Tyne 1,056 1,011 1,207 1,852 1,970 2,025 
			 Newham 1,297 1,262 1,569 3,139 3,98 3,401 
			 Newport 530 529 576 945 1,124 1,129 
			 Norfolk 2,988 3,058 3,637 6,284 6,476 6,750 
			 North East Lincolnshire 637 614 707 1,148 1,281 1,296 
			 North Lincolnshire 506 606 628 1,027 1,061 1,251 
			 North Somerset 688 676 775 1,332 1,567 1,533 
			 North Tyneside 843 852 1,084 1,445 1,704 1,837 
			 North Yorkshire 2,033 2,179 2,443 4,047 4,429 4,329 
			 Northamptonshire 2,738 2,184 3,318 5,340 5,941 6,273 
			 Northumberland 1,177 1,152 1,347 1,997 2,170 2,368 
			 Nottingham 1,117 1,146 1,355 2,255 2,447 2,593 
			 Nottinghamshire 2,637 2,660 3,274 5,123 5,680 5,846 
			 Oldham 8,22 790 1,479 1,641 1,618 5,733 
			 Oxfordshire 2,403 2,259 3,094 5,114 5,407 5,733 
			 Pembrokeshire 3,66 3,28 398 693 738 756 
			 Peterborough 689 792 960 1,571 1,706 1,730 
			 Plymouth 1,106 1,148 1,366 2,312 2,495 2,399 
			 Poole 669 589 785 1,239 1,277 1,355 
			 Portsmouth 960 984 1,142 1,974 2,153 2,201 
			 Powys 363 345 377 634 710 7,94 
			 Reading 739 756 936 1,607 1,769 1,819 
			 Redbridge 1,148 1,132 1,294 2,417 2,327 2,497 
			 Redcar and Cleveland 526 531 628 974 880 1,029 
			 Rhonddacynontaf 837 791 940 1,539 1,562 1,751 
			 Richmond upon Thames 806 822 1,028 1,783 1,881 1,894 
			 Rochdale 864 845 993 1,488 1,570 1,763 
			 Rotherham 892 857 1,033 1,589 1,781 1,947 
			 Rutland 133 102 128 226 264 260 
			 Salford 992 898 1,138 1,747 1,693 1,901 
			 Sandwell 1,216 1,234 1,330 2,284 2,565 2,493 
			 Sefton 1,071 987 1,133 1,725 1,837 1,952 
			 Sheffield 1,753 1,833 2,247 3,566 3,718 3,778 
			 Shropshire 917 908 1,069 1,712 2,082 2,018 
			 Slough 609 575 778 103 1,443 1,526 
			 Solihull 679 700 728 1,100 1,182 1,344 
			 Somerset 1,780 1,784 2,219 3,494 3,815 3,784 
			 South Gloucestershire 1,032 974 1,223 1,957 2,020 2,239 
			 South Tyneside 560 568 668 954 1,133 1,109 
			 Southampton 997 983 1,321 2,023 2,213 2,190 
			 Southend-on-Sea 801 792 864 1,537 1,621 1,702 
			 Southwark 1,140 1,368 1,825 3,098 4,170 4,283 
			 St. Helens 682 668 798 1,184 1,148 1,462 
			 Staffordshire 2,910 2,943 3,451 5,577 6,063 6,419 
			 Stockport 1,179 1,135 1,388 2037 2249 2337 
			 Stockton-on-Tees 770 743 862 1,331 1,385 1,523 
			 Stoke on Trent 1,091 1,021 1,154 1,820 2,097 2,155 
			 Suffolk 2,748 2,587 3,035 5,060 5,365 5,851 
			 Sunderland 995 1,101 1,248 1,880 2,054 2,199 
			 Surrey 4,282 4,245 5,201 8,395 8,677 8,894 
			 Sutton 883 786 1,098 1,599 1,707 1,715 
			 Swansea 792 740 887 1,521 1,569 1,627 
			 Swindon 896 890 1,146 1,670 1,893 1,988 
			 Tameside 1,002 896 1,051 1,595 1,754 1,746 
			 Telford and Wrekin 670 637 814 1,252 1,383 1,667 
			 The Vale of Glamorgan 501 480 559 860 926 973 
			 Thurrock 648 609 765 1,238 1,313 1,435 
			 Torbay 536 591 768 1,058 1,221 1,271 
			 Torfaen 371 341 390 726 648 658 
			 Tower Hamlets 759 744 1,121 2,348 2,652 2,848 
			 Trafford 951 904 1,070 1,729 1,760 1,897 
			 Wakefield 1,260 1,285 1,625 2,444 2,721 2,904 
			 Walsall 984 999 1,046 1,763 1,678 1,836 
			 Waltham Forest 999 1,046 1,429 2,807 3,081 3,122 
			 Wandsworth 1,502 1,513 2,151 3,813 4,145 4,553 
			 Warrington 788 764 897 1,433 1,565 1,593 
			 Warwickshire 1,944 2,007 2341 3807 3898 4148 
			 West Berkshire 572 561 683 1,122 1,303 1,296 
			 West Sussex 3,044 3,134 3,703 6,16 6,328 6,593 
			 Wigan 1,245 1,297 1,437 2,314 2,365 2,637 
			 Wiltshire 1,679 1,394 2026 3,361 3,593 3,597 
			 Windsor and Maidenhead 565 543 713 1,131 1,174 1,196 
			 Wirral 1,221 1,205 1,480 2,361 2,383 2,538 
			 Wokingham 579 574 701 1,204 1,138 1,237 
			 Wolverhampton 937 1,066 1,118 1,771 1,994 2,045 
			 Worcestershire 2,049 2,011 1,987 3,701 4,277 4,193 
			 Wrexham 437 468 505 896 805 908 
			 York 856 766 956 1,590 1,649 1,697 
			 Total 210,633 209,803 255,190 424,325 456,444 474,721

Food Poisoning

Mr. Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were recorded as suffering from food poisoning in each of the last five years; what the main causes were; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: The number of notified cases of food poisoning in England and Wales reported to the Health Protection Agency (HPA) each year since 2000 is shown in table one. Total notifications have shown a decrease since 2000.
	
		Table 1: Annual corrected food poisoning notifications, England and Wales 2000–04 1
		
			  Formally notified Otherwise ascertained 2 Total 
		
		
			 2000 46,481 40,047 86,528 
			 2001 46,768 38,700 85,468 
			 2002 38,541 34,108 72,649 
			 2003 35,211 35,821 71,032 
			 2004(2) 34,070 36,379 70,449 
			 Total 201,071 185,055 386,126 
		
	
	(2) Provisional data
	(3) Includes port health authorities
	Source:
	Health Protection Agency.
	The main causes of food poisoning are often unknown, as food poisoning is a diagnosis based on clinical suspicion rather than laboratory confirmation. Notified cases of food poisoning are not considered to be a reliable indicator of food-borne disease due to considerable under-reporting. Very few notified cases will be based on evidence supporting a suspected association with food.
	The HPA has estimated that, in 2000, there may have been as many as 1.3 million cases of food-borne disease acquired in England and Wales, of which around 370,000 consulted a doctor. In that year, only 86,528 cases of food poisoning were notified.
	Recent research undertaken by the HPA suggests that Campylobacter and Salmonella are the major causes of food-borne disease in England and Wales 1 . The annual totals for UK-acquired laboratory-confirmed cases of these pathogens in England and Wales are shown in table two.
	1 GK Adak, SM Long, SJ O'Brien—Trends in indigenous food-borne disease and deaths in England and Wales1992–2000. Gut 2002, 51: 832–841.
	
		Table 2: Number of laboratory-confirmed cases of UK-acquired Campylobacter and Salmonella infection; England and Wales 2000–04 1
		
			  Campylobacter(5) Salmonella(5) 
		
		
			 2000 43,815 11,500 
			 2001 44,368 12,951 
			 2002 37,316 11,691 
			 2003 36,204 12,245 
			 2004(4) 33,384 10,551 
			 Total 195,087 58,938 
		
	
	(4) Provisional data.
	(5) Faecal and lower gastrointestinal tract isolates.
	Source:
	Health Protection Agency.
	Final figures for 2003 show a 17 per cent. decrease in the number of laboratory-confirmed cases of Campylobacter infection compared with figures for 2000. Data for 2004 suggest a further decrease but these figures are provisional and may be subject to change during the course of 2005. The number of laboratory-confirmed cases of Salmonella infection in 2003 remain virtually unchanged compared with the figure for 2000. Provisional data for 2004 suggest a decrease in laboratory-confirmed cases of Salmonella in England and Wales. These declines in laboratory-confirmed cases of Campylobacter and Salmonella are also reflected in food poisoning notifications, which show a 19 per cent. decrease over the same time-period (2000–04).

Fuel Emissions

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will estimate the cost to the national health service of providing treatment to patients suffering illnesses provoked partly or wholly by emissions from fuel products in the last financial year for which figures are available.

Caroline Flint: This information is not collected directly as it is not possible to identify individual patients affected by air pollution. The link between air pollution and hospital admissions is derived from statistical correlations between daily air pollution levels and routine daily statistics on total respiratory hospital admissions. The national health service costs given as follows should be regarded only as rough estimates based on average figures.
	The Department's committee on the medical effects of air pollutants (COMEAP) estimated in 1998 1 that there were 10,500 respiratory hospital admissions (additional or brought forward) per year due to PM 1 0 (PM 1 0 refers to the mass of particles less than 10 pm in diameter per cubic metre of air) in urban areas of Great Britain. The equivalent estimate for sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ) was 3,500 respiratory hospital admissions.
	Assuming that two thirds of the PM 1 0 2 and the vast majority of SO 2 in urban areas is due directly or indirectly to fuel emissions from transport or from industry, as a rough estimate it can be assumed that up to around 10,500 respiratory hospital admissions in urban areas of Great Britain may be related to emissions from fuel products.
	The Department's ad-hoc group on the economic appraisal of the health effects of air pollution estimated in 1999 that the average cost of an emergency respiratory hospital admission was around £1,400. This gives a rough estimate of NHS costs due to emissions from fuel products of up to £14.7 million (£17.3 million in 2004 prices). This is an upper bound assuming that all respiratory hospital admissions are additional rather than simply brought forward as a result of higher air pollution days. The estimate does not include respiratory hospital admissions due to ozone 3 as an estimate of the proportion of ozone formed from fuel product precursors was not easily available. The estimate also does not include NHS costs of cardiovascular hospital admissions due to PM 1 0 or NHS costs of exacerbations of respiratory symptoms due to SO 2 or PM 1 0 .
	Further work on this issue may be considered as part of the work of the new COMEAP sub-group on quantification.
	1 Based on pollution levels in 1995–96. Pollution levels have reduced substantially since then.
	2 This includes PM 1 0 derived from transport, from industry and from Europe (itself mainly derived from transport and industry). It excludes the coarse fraction of PM 1 0 (mainly coarse dust and sea salt).
	3 The estimate also excludes hospital admissions due to nitrogen dioxide to avoid double counting with PM 1 0 .

MRSA

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in the UK have died of MRSA in NHS hospitals since 2001.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Andrew Rosindell, dated 24 May 2005
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many people in the UK have died from MRSA in NHS hospitals since 2001. (312)
	Special analysis of MRSA deaths are undertaken by the Office for National Statistics and are published annually in Health Statistics Quarterly. These are for England and Wales only. The latest year for which figures are available is 2003. Numbers of deaths where MRSA was a contributory factor in NHS general hospitals within England and Wales are given in the table below.
	
		Number of deaths in NHS general hospitals where MRSA was a contributory factor,(6) England and Wales, 2001–03 2
		
			  Number of deaths 
		
		
			 2001 649 
			 2002 720 
			 2003 855 
		
	
	(6) Identified using the methodology described in Griffiths C, Lamagni TL, Crowcroft NS, Duckworth G and Rooney C (2004) Trends in MRSA in England and Wales: analysis of morbidity and mortality data for 1993–2002. Health Statistics Quarterly 21, 15–22.
	(7) Figures are for deaths occurring in the years 2001 to 2003.
	Source:
	Office for National Statistics

Council Tax

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the average Band D council tax in (a) county councils, (b) metropolitan councils, (c) unitary councils and (d) London boroughs was in each year from 1997–98 to 2005–06.

Phil Woolas: The information requested is shown in the following table.
	
		Band D council tax(12), 2 adults for area £
		
			  1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2 
		
		
			 Shire county 666 738 796 848 903 992 1,129 1,198 1,246 
			 Metropolitan 779 833 878 919 968 1,017 1,098 1,143 1,190 
			 Shire unitary 698 736 779 825 879 958 1,066 1,145 1,197 
			 London 651 687 731 778 841 895 1,058 1,119 1,162 
			 Total England 688 747 798 847 901 976 1,102 1,167 1,214 
		
	
	(12) Amounts shown are headline taxes, before transitional relief and benefits.
	(13) Amounts shown for 2005–06 are before capping
	Source:
	BR1, BR2 and BR3 forms